


slow dancing in the dark

by darkdodielove



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Feelings, First Dates, Fluff and Humor, Liam has trouble dealing with his IED, M/M, Talking About the Past, Tara is alive, Theo is a Little Shit, Theo is an annoying neighbor, mentioned Tara Reaken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 13:16:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16661729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkdodielove/pseuds/darkdodielove
Summary: “Would you like to come over for dinner?” Theo inevitably asks, his words breaking Liam from his thoughts. Liam looks down at the ground and sighs, Theo already knows his answer. What's the harm in going for dinner? Liam's brain calls out, his hand subconsciously grips the door handle tighter, he grits his teeth as the metal almost breaks the skin.“Sure,” Liam rushes out before he can overthink it, his brain screams at him but he looks up and smiles at Theo who looks shocked. Theo nods his head, he opens and closes his mouth for a few seconds before opening it.





	slow dancing in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, what's up ya'll. So I haven't posted anything in a long as fucking while, I wanted to write a Thiam fic that had aspects of my favourite aesthetic, try and guess what it is ;) sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes!
> 
> the title is taken from the song slow dancing in the dark by Joji, I highly recommend you listen to it while reading this. 
> 
> kudos and comments are very welcome. Constructive criticism is appreciated very much
> 
> follow me on Tumblr if you want!

Liam loved his little eight-floor apartment, there's a large window in front of his bed which lets him look at the city skyline. At night the neon lights from the clubs and bars illuminates his little room, the room lights up with blues and purples. Sometimes when his life becomes too much, he will open his curtains to let the lights in and play some music, while under the covers. He'll lay there for hours just staring up at the ceiling, his eyes tracking the flashing lights from the city. 

 

His kitchen is small but big enough for him to be able to cook without bumping into things, but that really isn't saying much because he doesn't know how to cook, instead he lives on an unhealthy diet of fast food and ramen noodles. Every Friday night he takes the city train to Mason and Corey's lavish apartment in the fancy part of the city, they cook for him and sometimes he stays the night. 

 

He loves his apartment even though it's small, always dusty and smells like mould. The rent is cheap and he doesn't have to pretend to be happy, besides from Friday nights. The only things Liam doesn't love about this place is his mental state. Coming alone with his terrible sleeping patterns is his bad diet and the utter desperation for someone to take care of him. 

 

The worst thing Liam hates is his annoying neighbour who he has foolishly fallen in love with, the snaky jackass with beautiful eyes, a soft smile and an unnerving habit of inviting Liam over to his apartment for dinner. Liam always rejects the offer but every single time he does, the jackass whose name he learnt is Theo, tells him the offer always stands. 

 

Right on queue, Liam's heart skips a beat as someone knocks on his door, he knew that the knock was coming, like clockwork, every Tuesday and Wednesday night at five thirty on the dot. He knows from the recognisable knock that it's Theo. He takes his laptop from his lap and puts it on the bed next to his phone. He quickly throws on pants over his boxers before walking over to the door. He looks through the peephole and rubs his sweaty hands on the side of his pants. He takes a deep breath and opens the door. Theo smiles at him and looks down nervously at the ground, a slight blush on his cheeks. 

 

“Hi,” Liam says softly, his hand grip the door handle tightly, the metal bitting sharply into his palm as he stops himself from reaching forward and poking Theo's cheek. The wants to kiss Theo annoys him day and night always nagging at the back of his mind as well as the want to accept the boy’s dinner invite. 

 

“Hi,” Theo replies nervously, still looking down at the ground. He seems more nervous than any other time before.

 

Theo looks up at him and smiles, his eyes shine with an emotion that Liam can only describe as pure joy and happiness but also a hint of nerves, his voice portrays the nerves more than his eyes do. Liam knows that Theo lives alone which is why he wants to accept the dinner invite is always on his mind and why the word  _ yes  _ is on his lips to answer Theo's upcoming question. 

 

Liam also knows that he doesn't have a reasonable reason for not wanting to accept Theo invite, he is already in love with the boy. But he just knows that if he and Theo ended up being a couple, Theo would end things once he found out about Liam's mental issues. 

 

“Would you like to come over for dinner?” Theo inevitably asks, his words breaking Liam from his thoughts. Liam looks down at the ground and sighs, Theo already knows his answer.  _ What's the harm in going for dinner?  _ Liam's brain calls out, his hand subconsciously grips the door handle tighter, he grits his teeth as the metal almost breaks the skin. 

 

“Sure,” Liam rushes out before he can overthink it, his brain screams at him but he looks up and smiles at Theo who looks shocked. Theo nods his head, he opens and closes his mouth for a few seconds before opening it. 

 

“Awesome!” the boy nearly shouts. “Come over at seven.” Liam nods his head, his eyes flick down to the watch on his wrist.  _ You only have three hours,  _ his brain screams. 

 

“I'll be there,” Liam says shyly. Theo nods his head, smiles, turns on his heel and disappears into his own apartment. Liam takes a breathe and closes the door before screaming behind his teeth, he runs to his bedroom and rakes through his closet. He holds various shirts in front of his chest and looks into the mirror, his sad eyes look back at him and he groans.

 

After what feels like an hour Liam settles on a black shirt, grey hoodie and a pair of black ripped jeans. He showers and sprays himself with several different fragrances. When the sun starts to set he sits back down on his bed with an hour left to spare. 

 

Even though Liam might be alone most of the time, that doesn’t mean he wants to be alone. His mind screams at him that once Theo finds out about his mental health problem, the attractive asshole won’t want anything to do with him. He shakes his head and stands determined to not let his thoughts stop him from having a nice evening with a cute boy. 

 

He walks into the tiny living room and connects his phone to the speaker and blasts his music as loud as he can without the people above or below him filing a complaint with the landlord. To distract himself he starts to clean up the dirty plates and bowls placed all around the apartment. He picks up half empty glass of apple juice balanced on top of a stack of video games.  

 

Just as the sixth song on his playlist ends he hears a familiar knock on his door, he less than carefully places the dishes in the sink and wipes his hand on the nearest dishcloth. He quickly walks over to his phone and turns off the music before turning to the door, he pulls open the door and smiles shyly at Theo when he hands or better words, shoves a handful of brightly coloured flowers into Liam’s hands. 

 

“Thanks,” Liam practically giggles, his cheeks flushed a bright red. He looks down at his shoes as he expects Theo to laugh at him for giggling but instead when he looks up at Theo, the boy has flushed cheeks and is staring at Liam with such a loving and fond expression that it makes his heart ache a little. He opens the door behind him and places the flowers on the small table next to the door before turning back to Theo who looks down at his feet nervously. Liam’s heart swells just from looking at the amazing man in front of him. 

 

_ You better not break his fucking heart,  _ a part of Liam’s brain whispers. Liam grits his teeth and closes his door.

 

“I probably look like an idiot. I couldn’t find anything good to wear and I know this shirt has stains on it but I wanted to look nice and-,” Liam rambles, tripping over his own words which spill out of his mouth. He stops short when Theo laughs lightly and flushes. 

 

“I think you look so beautiful,” Theo says, his eyes shining. Liam slides him a sly side looks but when he seems Theo smiling at him he drops the suspicion and smiles at the boy. Theo offers his arms and Liam laughs but takes his arm. They walk across the hall and stop right outside Theo’s apartment. 

 

“Close your eyes,” Theo whispers, his voice soft and airy, it leaves Liam feeling all the control leave his body as he closes his eyes. In the past when he felt powerless and in loss of control, he would react the only way he knew how, his anger. But with Theo he feels different, he welcomes the loss of power and trusts someone new. 

 

The door in front of him drags against the floor as Theo pushes it open. Theo steps in front of him and slowly leads Liam into the apartment. He freezes in the doorway when something briefly touches his nose before disappearing. A cold wind sweeps through the apartment which makes Liam shiver slightly. 

 

“Open your eyes,” Theo whispers, his breath hitting Liam's neck softly. He opens his eyes slowly, everything blurs for a second before coming back into focus. Strung from every high surface is strings of fairy lights. The soft yellow lights blink on and off in the slow pattern, the glow from the lights coat the room in a dim light. The strung up lights sway along with the wind which whips through the open windows all around the apartment. Soft music flows around the similar small but comfortable looking living room.

 

“Wow,” Liam breathes out, “this is amazing.” He looks back at Theo who is starring at the ground with a soft smile. Liam takes a deep breath and moves his hand from Theo’s arm down to the boy’s hand. They link their hands together and Liam’s breath hitches in his throat when Theo squeezes his hand ever so slightly. 

 

Set up in the middle of the living room is a small dining table big enough for two or three people. A few more strings of fairy lights are strung across the table, the end of the light dip of the side of the table and drag onto the floor. Liam laughs slightly when this catches his eye. 

 

“I didn’t have any candles so that's the best I could do, I would have gone out and bought some candles but where would I even get a candle from?” Theo asks with a nervous laugh. Liam ducks his head and smiles. 

 

“Probably target or maybe like a candle shop,” Liam says with a smile. He lifts his head and Theo chuckles with a nod. Theo leads him further into the living room, he pulls out a chair and Liam lowers himself into the chair. 

 

“I made pasta with meatballs, but I didn’t know if you were like vegetarian or something so I made a batch without meatballs,” Theo says, the wind in the room ruffles his soft-looking hair. Liam smiles up at him. 

 

“I’m not a vegetarian so I’ll take the pasta with meatballs,” he chuckles, thinking back to all of the empty Mcdonalds wrappers sitting in his bin. Theo nods his head and turns his back to Liam as he walks into the kitchen. The song switches and Theo hums along to the words. Liam leans back in his seat and smiles softly. 

 

In this time, Liam finds himself interested in Theo's apartment, which seems a lot more clean and sophisticated than his. A large TV place in the corner of the living room with an Xbox, an armchair and sofa. 

 

An open laptop sits on the arm of the sofa, a wire connecting it to the small speaker. A pride flag hangs from the end of the hallway on the other side of the apartment. The only difference between his apartment and Theo's is the balcony. He smiles when the little-potted plant comes into view. 

 

_ Just because he invited you over doesn't mean he likes you,  _ his mind taunts. He grits his teeth and stuffs his hands in his pocket. 

 

“Shut up,” he softly growls. 

 

“Did you just say something?” Theo calls from the kitchen. Liam's breathing hitches in his throat and his head slowly turns to the doorway to the kitchen. 

 

“No,” Liam quickly calls back, “just singing along to the music.” Theo reappears from the kitchen carrying two bowls place in one arm, one in this hand and the other resting on his forearm. In the other hand, he carries an empty wine glass with one tucked into the crook of his elbow and held tight against his chest. 

 

Theo places one bowl in front of Liam and places a wine glass down as well. He then places a bowl and glass down on the opposite side of the table. 

 

“Okay so, what would you like to drink?” Theo asks as he turns back to go into the kitchen. 

 

“I have wine, coke, vodka or water,” he calls out. 

 

“Wine is good for me,” Liam calls back despite still being under the legal drinking age. He doesn't know Theo's age but from the fact that he has alcohol, he must be twenty-one or older. 

 

“Don't wait for me to join you, start eating before it gets cold,” Theo calls out, breaking him from his thoughts. Besides the soft music, glass bottles clinking around are the only sounds in the room. He picks up his fork and takes a bite of the pasta. He moans around the first bite which causes Theo to laugh. 

 

“I didn't ask before but how old are you?” Liam asks after he's taken a few large bites. Theo comes back to the table, he holds a half-full bottle of wine in his hand as well as two cans of coke.

 

“I'm twenty-two,” he said as he sits back down. He starts pouring himself a glass of wine and then starts to pour some into Liam's glass. Liam is a bit shocked, the boy in front of him doesn't look to be even older than him. Theo must pick up on this because he laughs and shrugs his shoulders. 

 

“What about you?” he asks wearily. Liam flushes and looks down at his bowl of food, scared that Theo might not want him if Liam's tells him his age. 

 

“I'm twenty,” he says softly but loud enough for Theo to hear him. He looks back up and Theo who smiles and nods his head. 

 

“That's fine Liam,” Theo says. Liam let's out a breath he didn't know he was holding, he sucks some air into his lung to stop himself from losing control of his emotions and to stop himself from either crying or laughing hysterically. He smiles and takes a sip of his wine. They eat in silence for a while, Liam looks up every now and again, he blushes when he catches Theo staring at him.  

 

“Okay so tell me some stuff about yourself?” Theo clears his throat and asks, he takes a sip of wine. Liam hums in thought, thinking about what to tell the boy and what not tell him. 

 

“Well what do you want to know?” he asks after a few seconds. Theo laughs and hums a little bit. Liam finishes off his pasta and leans back in his chair. 

 

“Tell me about your family, hobbies and your favourite things,” Theo says with a smile, he puts the last forkful of pasta into his mouth. Liam takes a sip of his wine and laughs.

 

“Okay so, my mom's name is Jenna and my step dad's name is David, they live in Beacon Hills. My best friends names are Mason and Corey, they are boyfriends and they live across the city in the more rich part of Beacon county,” Liam says, it should feel weird to tell all this stuff to someone he doesn’t know, but it just feels like reconnecting with a long lost friend. 

 

“I went to Devenford Prep, got expelled halfway through his sophomore year and then transferred to Beacon Hills high school. I didn’t start school until the next year though,” Liam continues 

 

“That's cool, I grew up in Beacon Hills,” Theo says absentmindedly. Liam nods his head and tries to remember if he can remember seeing Theo around town. 

 

“Did you go to Beacon Hills high school? If you did I don’t remember you,” Liam says, Theo takes a sip of his wine and stands up.

 

“I did go to Beacon Hills high school, but I would have graduated before you became a student,” Theo says as he grabs the bowls and takes them into the kitchen then reappearing a few seconds later with a second bottle of wine but instead of being half full, the bottle is full and unopened. He lifts the bottle up in question and Liam smiles, nodding his head. Theo pours himself some more wine before topping up Liam’s glass.

 

“Do you possibly know Scott Mccall?” Theo asks once he has sat back down, he takes a sip from his full glass of wine while Liam racks his brain trying to remember his high school years. An image of a tall, olive-skinned boy with a crooked jaw pops into his mind. 

 

“I think so, he might have been my sub lacrosse coach when Finstock was out sick,” Liam recalls. Theo chuckles and smiles a little bit.

 

“That would probably be him. He was the lacrosse captain from sophomore to senior year,” Theo says while looking miles away in though with a small smile on his face. Liam stays quite to let the boy have this moment. Liam picks up his glass of wine and takes a sip, the action seems to have broken Theo out of his trance. 

 

“Sorry about that,” Theo says with a laugh, an almost sad smile flashes across his face before it returns to his normal smiles. 

 

“Can I ask you a question?” Liam asks, the boy in front of him nods his head. He takes a moment to think about how to phrase the question without it sounding offensive or making him sound like an asshole. 

 

“You are usually a lot more of a snarky asshole,” Liam blurts out, Theo looks at him with raised eyebrows. 

 

“I’m sorry that was very harsh, I mean you are usually making snarky comments and being a…” Liam pauses as he tries to find the word he is looking for to describe how Theo can be sometimes. 

 

“An asshole,” Theo fills in with a laugh. Liam huffs out a laugh through his nose and nods his head. 

 

“Do you remember a while ago when I had that girl with me and I made a comment about your ridiculous pink backpack?” Theo asks with a smile. Liam nods his head as he recalls the evening. He had just gotten home from work and Theo was standing in the hallway with a tall girl who had thick brown hair and a beautiful smile. Theo had made a comment about how dumb his neon pink bag had looked, the girl slaps Theo on the shoulder and told Liam she liked the bag.

 

“That was my older sister Tara, she was down for the week to visit. She asked me why I made that harsh comment and then I told her everything about how I had strange feelings I couldn’t figure out when it came to you. She helped me figure out a lot of things like how I always wanted to talk to you and be around you, that's why I made snarky comments because I didn’t know how to talk to you properly. Because I like you,” Theo says with a laugh. Liam blushes and rubs the back of his neck. 

 

“I like you too,” he breathes out. Theo blushes and starts leaning forward. Liam panics for a millisecond never had kissed anyone except Hayden. But Theo probably won't appreciate seventeen-year-old Liam's approach to kissing which was to jam his tongue in her mouth and move it around. 

 

He moves forward in his chair, his ass lifting off the seat a little bit as he leans forward, his eyes closing and letting Theo close the gap. They connect lips for a brief second before Theo is pulling back a little bit. Liam's eyes stay closed as he smiles softly. He opens his eyes and is met with Theo's beautiful greenish hazel eyes. 

 

“So, does this mean we are like boyfriends or something?” Liam asks after a few seconds of silence. Theo leans back into his seat and Liam does the same. The other boy shrugs his shoulders and smiled a little. 

 

“I’m not sure. I mean I'd be totally cool with having you as my boyfriend but it's up to you,” Theo says, he takes a sip of his wine and picks up the cork from the table and puts it back into the bottle. 

 

“Well, I would like to be your boyfriend,” Liam says softly. Theo nods his head and laughs softly, obviously trying to keep his emotions as nonchalant as possible while Liam is nearly vibrating in his seat. 

 

“Just to warn you, my best friends and family are gonna want to meet you. Mason will probably give you the if you hurt my best friend talk and try to act all tough but he means no harm,” Liam says with a laugh, he smiles at his boyfriend was mirrors his smiles. 

 

“Well if I get to meet your family, then you have to meet mine, though you'll only meet one person,” Theo says slightly sadly. Liam tilts his head in question at Theo's tone. 

 

“My parents died when my sister and I were young,” he says darkly, his eyes glazing over. 

 

“Oh Theo I'm so sorry,” Liam says sadly. Theo shakes his head and gives his boyfriend a smile. 

 

“It's okay, it happened a while ago. It's just been Tara and I for a while now. We were very distant for a while. After our parents died, she left Beacon Hills and went to live with our aunts but I stayed in Beacon Hills and lived with Scott. We only really started having a brother-sister relationship last year when she moved back here, she's been looking for a place to stay so, she's actually on the process of moving in with me right now,” Theo says with a soft smile. Liam looks around the room and notices a few boxes stacked on top of each other in the almost hidden corner next to the sofa. 

 

“It’s really nice that you’ll have family here with you. My mum and I left our dad when I was about eight, he had really bad anger issues so mom ended things with him and got us a little apartment on the edge of town. I don’t have any siblings but my mom is pregnant, it's too early to know the gender but I’m super happy,” Liam says with a smile. Theo smiles back at him and fiddles with the edge of the tablecloth. 

 

“How did your mom and step-dad meet?” Theo asks, leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands. 

 

“It's actually quite a funny story,” Liam recalls, “Mason and I were throwing around a football inside his house. His mom was fine with it as long as it didn’t touch the carpet, so obviously being the dumb teenagers we were, we made it into a game of try not to let it touch the floor. Mason threw it pretty far away from me and I dove to try to catch it, but instead of catching the ball, I dove through a window. I got a broken arm,  tore a ligament in my shoulder and got glass in my back. David was a doctor working at the hospital and that's how they met,” Liam tells the story through laughs while Theo looks at the boy fondly.

 

Hours pass and bye the time they eat dessert while talking more about themselves and sharing childhood stories, it's almost midnight. They say goodbye at the door with a soft lingering kiss, Theo puts his number into Liam’s phone and winks cheekily at him. Liam makes his way across the hall and back into his apartment, he takes his clothes off and gets dressed into his bedclothes, he puts his phone on the nightstand and goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth. His phone buzzes with an incoming call from Theo when he lays down in bed. He connects the call and presses the phone to his ear with a smile. 

 

“Goodnight cutie,” Theo says softly into the phone. 

 

“Goodnight babe,” Liam replies softly. The call disconnects and Liam lies back down. He falls asleep with Theo on his mind and in his heart. 

 

The purple and blue neon lights, light up his room and dance to the soft rhythmic beating of his heart.

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
